Word of the day:Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary TimeGospelLk 12:49-53Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Thoughts from the cornfield:With all real change comes pain - even when change is for the good. In essence, change is death to old ways and birth to new. Eight years ago I quit smoking. This was certainly a change for the good, but even though I knew how bad smoking was for me and the people around me, it was still a death of sorts. It was a a good 3 years or so before I quit mourning the loss of that life quenching addiction. I saw myself as a smoker who didn't smoke. The catalyst for the change came with my quitting, but the change itself didn't truly reach fulfillment until 3 years later - it was an evolutionary process. The story is the same with all of those things in our lives that we must change. There is pain involved - but the greater joy awaits. This is Jesus' message.